1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of instrument panel parts of an automobile, and more specifically to a structure for supporting a striker of a glove box.
2. Background of the Invention
Conventionally, a glove box is often provided in the instrument panel of an automobile. Furthermore, in recent years, in order to increase the on-board storage capabilities, a storage portion is sometimes provided above the glove box.
If the instrument panel is provided with a shelf-shaped storage portion, which is inserted toward the inside of the instrument panel, then, when trying to mold it in one piece with the instrument panel, it is necessary to pull out the core (projecting portion) of the die, so that there are such problems as that it is hard to make the bottom wall of the storage portion horizontal with respect to the car body, or that a large depth of the storage portion cannot be attained, and thus it is difficult to ensure a storage portion with sufficient capacity. Accordingly, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-335179, arrangements are known, in which a tray made of a separate part constituting a storage portion is attached to an opening in the instrument panel.
In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-335179, a configuration is proposed, in which a tray plate having a dish-shaped depression is fitted into an opening portion provided in an instrument panel, and a fixing member is provided that couples together and fixes a rear wall of the instrument panel and a rear wall of the tray plate. Thus, it can be prevented that, even when there is a collision of the vehicle, the tray plate comes off and flies through the car interior. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-335179 states that if a striker that engages a lock of the glove box is attached to a fixing member, then it is possible to have one fixing member serve the two purposes of engaging an engaging portion and fixing the tray plate, and it is possible to accomplish a reduction of the number of parts.
However, the fixing member (bracket) described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-335179 serves to couple and fix the rear wall of the instrument panel to the rear wall of the tray plate, so that it necessarily extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Therefore, it does not contribute to increasing the rigidity of the edge of the opening portion of the glove box or the storage portion, and there is the risk of creaking noises, buckling and displacements. In particular when a striker is attached, an impulsive load acts repeatedly when opening or closing the glove box, so that there was the risk that the attachment location of the fixing member is subject to deformations or breaking. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement the strength of the rim of the opening portion separately with an additional reinforcing part or rib structure, so that there is no reduction of the number of parts after all or the mold shape becomes complicated.
Furthermore, since the fixing member is attached to the rear wall of the tray plate and the glove box is arranged below that, a portion corresponding to the vertical width of the fixing member will be wasted as dead space. Accordingly, there is a demand for further increasing the efficiency with which the limited volume of the instrument panel is utilized.
It is thus an object of the present invention to propose a structure of instrument panel parts, with which the support strength of the striker and the rigidity of the opening portion is increased, and with which a larger storage volume can be achieved.